


Sparks of Life

by FleuretteFfoulkes



Category: The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:53:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25456528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleuretteFfoulkes/pseuds/FleuretteFfoulkes
Summary: Tomorrow's rescue would be terribly simple—so why was Percy so distracted?
Relationships: Percy Blakeney & The League, background Marguerite Blakeney/Percy Blakeney
Kudos: 9
Collections: FandomWeekly (2019-2021) Writing Challenge on Dreamwidth





	Sparks of Life

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Fandom Weekly's challenge #060 - Careless.

It wasn't like Percy to forget where he had left his tinder-box. To leave it behind in some hell-for-leather flight from their enemies, yes—but to carelessly forget? Andrew had known Percy for most of his life, and he'd never known him to be careless.  
  
Things were calmer these days, ever since the Thermidorian Reaction had seen the ouster of Robespierre and his lot; but there were still many suffering in France who needed succor and rescue. And so the Scarlet Pimpernel and his League still roamed the French countryside whenever they could make their excuses from their homes and their wives and the Court of St. James's. They camped in those places deep in the forest and tucked away in the countryside that they knew all too well after so many years of rescues. They had no tents or bedding, but only the starry skies above for a blanket and the dirt for a pillow.  
  
And so a fire was a must. Tony had gathered the wood, and Percy had stacked it and said he would set the fire, but now, with a light laugh, he was claiming he must have mislaid it.  
  
"You've seemed lost in thought all day, Percy," Andrew said. "Is something the matter?"  
  
Percy laughed again, though Andrew thought it sounded a trifle forced. "I'm quite all right," Percy said. "Tony, you've been a less careless man than I and kept your tinder-box by you, haven't you? I know you've already done your share of the evening's work—"  
  
"But I can still do a little more," Tony said, producing flint and tinder. "And _you're_ changing the subject."  
  
"Perhaps I'm simply thinking about our plans for tomorrow."  
  
"Tomorrow is to be the simplest rescue we've done since 1789," Andrew said. "Any one of us could do it in our sleep. Five of us ought to be able to do it while sleeping soundly and dancing a gavotte backwards. Definitely not worth losing one's tinder-box over."  
  
The sparks Tony had been nursing burst into full-blown flame. "Hastings, there's nothing holding you back from starting dinner duty now," he announced. "Just make sure you check the stew-pot for Percy's tinder-box before you put anything in it."  
  
"And the kettle, too," Stowmarries said. "It could be anywhere."  
  
Percy opened his mouth, and then shut it again quickly. Andrew pressed the advantage. "So what _is_ worrying you? And don't try to say you're distracted by the loss of your tinder-box, for I know you were lost in thought far before you ever discovered it had gone missing."  
  
Percy sat down at the foot of a tree and tipped his head back against the trunk. The expression on his face was a strange mixture of worry and something else—hope or excitement, perhaps? The men gathered round, waiting for their chief to speak, and Percy seemed to realize that they would not let this go. "It's Marguerite," he said. "She told me just before I left, and it was a wrench to leave right away after that. She said she would have told me sooner, but she wasn't certain until then, and she didn't want to have to wait without telling anyone until I returned."  
  
"Is she ill?" Tony asked quickly.  
  
Percy shook her head. "She's fine. It's nothing that many women haven't dealt with for many years before she or I was ever born."  
  
Andrew took his meaning at once. "Congratulations, Percy!" he exclaimed, clapping his friend on the back. "You and she will be fine parents."  
  
The others gathered round and congratulated him in turn.  
  
"We don't need all five of us here to run tomorrow's rescue," Tony said. "You should go home and be with your wife. Leave Andrew in charge; he knows the ropes. We may not be able to rescue them while dancing a gavotte backwards without you, but we can at least do it while dancing a gavotte forwards."  
  
"And sleeping," Stowmarries said.  
  
"If anything went wrong and I wasn't here, I'd never forgive myself," Percy said.  
  
"And if anything went wrong back in England, you'd regret that too," Tony said.  
  
"You're sure? Andrew, do you mind taking charge for the next few days?"  
  
"Percy, relax, I've got this," Andrew said. "Go home and be with your wife." He clapped Percy on the shoulder again. "The revolution is over; we can handle the mopping up while you prepare the next generation of heroes."


End file.
